Monday, August 20, 2018

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: Words and the Meaning of Words


In Chapter 4 of Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg talks about understanding the depth and breadth of Hebrew words can really help in understanding what is being said.



An example she uses is found on page 64, where she says that the word for "work" is the same word for "worship", and the word for "listen" as "obey".

What I think is so interesting for that is the implied action involved in each of those words. Each have a "forward action", if you will. There's an assumption, almost, that if you are working, you are worshipping. And if you are listening, you need to obey.

She also talks about the words "remember" and "forget" also as having accompanying meanings—which makes sense. When God tells the Israelites, "I will remember you", He's not just saying that He'll think of them. It means He'll act on their behalf. "Forget" has the opposite connotation—it's not just an absence in the mind, but a removal.

How can the deeper meanings of these words have significance to us as we read the Bible in 2018?

No comments:

Post a Comment